Obama still skipping out on 55K tab from 2008.

[Soul Crusher]

Springfield Asks Obama to Pay Up for Campaign Event
In Springfield there remains one piece of unfinished business: an unpaid bill for $55,480

By Carol Marin and Don Moseley |  Monday, Feb 6, 2012  |  Updated 5:55 AM CSTView Comments (6)




When then-candidate Barack Obama made a big announcement in Springfield, security didn't come free. But local officials say the bill has yet to be paid.


Three and a half years after a rally by then candidate Barack Obama in Springfield, city officials in the state capitol say they are left holding the bill for police overtime.
 
On August 23, 2008 the Obama campaign rolled through central Illinois to announce Joe Biden as its Vice Presidential running mate.

  It was a buoyant time for the campaign en route to Denver for the Democratic Convention.
 
Thousands turned out in the square by the old State Capitol to witness the announcement.
 
But before the event could begin, the city of Springfield had work to do, said Alderman Frank Edwards.
 
“There are a lot of things that they asked for,” Edwards said. “Extra police, move things. You’ve got to have this A to Z and we provided that.”
 
The event went off without a hitch.  Obama moved on to Denver, got his party’s nomination and ultimately a history-making general election victory.
 
But back in Springfield there remains one piece of unfinished business: an unpaid bill for $55,480.
 
“What they refused to pay was the $55,000 associated with police overtime for extra security,” said city Budget Director William McCarty.
 
On March 10, 2011 Alderman Edwards wrote the White House and the president “…to request your help.”
 
This latest round of appeals began, Edwards says, when he was going through a list of unpaid bills.
 
“It was $800,000 in collection, some parking tickets, building permits, things people owed us and I got to looking thru the list and here’s a bill that pops up, its $55,000,” Edwards said in an interview.  “And we go why isn’t this paid.”
 
Since 2009, McCarty says city officials have tried to determine who was responsible for the overdue debt.
 
“They contacted the DNC. They contacted the Obama campaign,” he said but no one wanted to pay. “That’s when the finger pointing began because the Obama campaign said we are a private organization, we are not responsible for the security.”
 
To try and cut through the clutter Edwards asked the President to intercede: “…sometimes only the executive himself can cut through such inter-departmental differences of opinion,” he wrote in last year’s letter.
 
There was no immediate response.
 
On November 15, 2011 the Deputy COO of Obama for America, replied the Obama team wasn’t responsible for security or other costs.

This week a campaign officials said: “Presidential campaigns are not responsible for security costs.”

If a question persists Teal Baker wrote: “…we assume it should be directed to the U.S. Secret Service.”
 
Springfield officials contacted a local representative of the Secret Service but McCarty says they didn’t get too far, telling them: “We don’t pay bills out of here, you’ll need to contact Washington. “
 
This week a Secret Service a spokesman, in response to a question said, “We don’t pay overtime to police.”  Adding there is no money or mechanism in the budget to do so.
 
Springfield officials say there is a serious side to the debate about the bill. Like many American cities Springfield is in a terrible budget crunch and last week there were 13 laying offs.
 
“Fact is $55,000 is enough to cover the salary and benefits of one of those employees for a year,” McCarty said.
 
There have been other big visits to Springfield, including President Bush in April 2005 to dedicate the Lincoln museum.
 
And the February 2007 presidential announcement by Barack Obama.
 
Neither left outstanding bills.
 
The Obama 2012 campaign declined to be interviewed but a official reiterated on background without attribution that the campaign does not pay for police overtime.
 
Springfield remains stuck with the bill.
 
City officials aren’t optimistic they will recover the $55,000, but they will keep trying.
 
“I mean it all comes back to common sense,” said Edwards. “If you are asking for something to be done and you know it cost money then you ought to be prepared to pay for it. It’s that simple.”



Source: http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/politics/Springfield-Illinois-Officials-Say-Obama-Still-Owes-55000-for-Security-at-Campaign-Event-138678564.html#ixzz1lhkd3DkD

[Soul Crusher]

Obama is taking 38k PER PLATE AT EACH FUNDRAISER - and can pay for this with the money from less than 2 diners at these things. 


So when Obama goes on and on about paying for police and teachers and cries about the repubs - remember his hypocrisy when he is truly called on to make a decision about it. 

 

[Vince G, CSN MFT]

Springfield Asks Obama to Pay Up for Campaign Event
In Springfield there remains one piece of unfinished business: an unpaid bill for $55,480

By Carol Marin and Don Moseley |  Monday, Feb 6, 2012  |  Updated 5:55 AM CSTView Comments (6)




When then-candidate Barack Obama made a big announcement in Springfield, security didn't come free. But local officials say the bill has yet to be paid.


Three and a half years after a rally by then candidate Barack Obama in Springfield, city officials in the state capitol say they are left holding the bill for police overtime.
 
On August 23, 2008 the Obama campaign rolled through central Illinois to announce Joe Biden as its Vice Presidential running mate.

  It was a buoyant time for the campaign en route to Denver for the Democratic Convention.
 
Thousands turned out in the square by the old State Capitol to witness the announcement.
 
But before the event could begin, the city of Springfield had work to do, said Alderman Frank Edwards.
 
“There are a lot of things that they asked for,” Edwards said. “Extra police, move things. You’ve got to have this A to Z and we provided that.”
 
The event went off without a hitch.  Obama moved on to Denver, got his party’s nomination and ultimately a history-making general election victory.
 
But back in Springfield there remains one piece of unfinished business: an unpaid bill for $55,480.
 
“What they refused to pay was the $55,000 associated with police overtime for extra security,” said city Budget Director William McCarty.
 
On March 10, 2011 Alderman Edwards wrote the White House and the president “…to request your help.”
 
This latest round of appeals began, Edwards says, when he was going through a list of unpaid bills.
 
“It was $800,000 in collection, some parking tickets, building permits, things people owed us and I got to looking thru the list and here’s a bill that pops up, its $55,000,” Edwards said in an interview.  “And we go why isn’t this paid.”
 
Since 2009, McCarty says city officials have tried to determine who was responsible for the overdue debt.
 
“They contacted the DNC. They contacted the Obama campaign,” he said but no one wanted to pay. “That’s when the finger pointing began because the Obama campaign said we are a private organization, we are not responsible for the security.”
 
To try and cut through the clutter Edwards asked the President to intercede: “…sometimes only the executive himself can cut through such inter-departmental differences of opinion,” he wrote in last year’s letter.
 
There was no immediate response.
 
On November 15, 2011 the Deputy COO of Obama for America, replied the Obama team wasn’t responsible for security or other costs.

This week a campaign officials said: “Presidential campaigns are not responsible for security costs.”

If a question persists Teal Baker wrote: “…we assume it should be directed to the U.S. Secret Service.”
 
Springfield officials contacted a local representative of the Secret Service but McCarty says they didn’t get too far, telling them: “We don’t pay bills out of here, you’ll need to contact Washington. “
 
This week a Secret Service a spokesman, in response to a question said, “We don’t pay overtime to police.”  Adding there is no money or mechanism in the budget to do so.
 
Springfield officials say there is a serious side to the debate about the bill. Like many American cities Springfield is in a terrible budget crunch and last week there were 13 laying offs.
 
“Fact is $55,000 is enough to cover the salary and benefits of one of those employees for a year,” McCarty said.
 
There have been other big visits to Springfield, including President Bush in April 2005 to dedicate the Lincoln museum.
 
And the February 2007 presidential announcement by Barack Obama.
 
Neither left outstanding bills.
 
The Obama 2012 campaign declined to be interviewed but a official reiterated on background without attribution that the campaign does not pay for police overtime.
 
Springfield remains stuck with the bill.
 
City officials aren’t optimistic they will recover the $55,000, but they will keep trying.
 
“I mean it all comes back to common sense,” said Edwards. “If you are asking for something to be done and you know it cost money then you ought to be prepared to pay for it. It’s that simple.”



Source: http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/politics/Springfield-Illinois-Officials-Say-Obama-Still-Owes-55000-for-Security-at-Campaign-Event-138678564.html#ixzz1lhkd3DkD

That's not skipping out on a fee.  Most cities do not charge for police security and overtime because when events come to town, it adds a lot more money into their economy from hotel rentals, food, gas, etc.   

[blacken700]

PRIMARY NOTES: Policing protection costs are not an exact science
Ian Bagley


When a presidential candidate comes to town and local police are dispatched to handle crowds and manage traffic at an event, does the candidate’s campaign pay for the work, or do city taxpayers foot the bill?

It’s a question Keene police Chief Arthur Walker has been asked a few times in recent weeks by police from other relatively large departments in the area — in Concord and Brattleboro, for example, Walker said.

The answer: It varies, depending on who the candidate is and how big the event is likely to be, he said.

So far, presidential candidates Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., have hosted the two biggest political events in Keene this year — Clinton at Keene High School and Obama at Keene State College — and both campaigns have covered the cost of hiring extra police to handle crowds of more than 2,000.

Keene police charge $56 for every hour worked by a Keene police officer, so several police working for a few hours at an event can easily end up costing more than $1,000.

In Obama’s visit, four Keene police officers worked from 5:30 to 10 p.m., according to Keene police Capt. Edwin F. Bourassa Jr. Throughout the speech, they stood at entrances to Spaulding Gymnasium where Obama spoke.

For Walker, who has been an officer in Keene for roughly three decades, the biggest Keene event he remembers occurred in the early 1990s, when President Bill Clinton spoke at Central Square to a crowd of thousands assembled on Main Street.

In that case, the city was expected to cover the cost of helping Secret Service provide security on Main Street — a mammoth challenge, as every street and alley off Main Street had to be secured.

Walker said he doesn’t recall how much police coverage cost the city.

Walker doesn’t know why the questions about cost from other departments are popping up now, and not four years ago or eight years ago, he said.

“It may just be that budgets are tight,” and so police are taking a comparative look at their own policies, he speculated.

In Concord, Sgt. Jim Berry said he isn’t aware of the questions about who’s covering the costs of special police details at political events, but in general, candidates are paying for the details, except in cases where U.S. Secret Service agents request help on their own.

In Keene, this year’s events seem to be going smoothly from a police perspective, Walker said.

In Peterborough — another frequent campaign stop for candidates touring the Monadnock Region — town police Chief Scott M. Guinard said some campaigns send Secret Service agents to local police departments, often in person, to work out security before an event.

The notice often comes about a week before an event, Guinard said. “You usually have a very short window of opportunity to prepare,” he said.

In general, however, the cost is minor, and so far, candidates haven’t offered to pay Peterborough police for their work.

Not all candidates need or request police assistance. When former governor Mitt Romney, a Republican from Massachusetts, visited Keene and Peterborough last week, for example, he didn’t contact police to discuss security.

That didn’t bother Walker or Guinard.

“As long as everything goes smoothly,” it’s not necessary for candidates to contact police before they show up to campaign, Guinard said.

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[Soul Crusher]

LMFAO! !  ! !  GMAFB! ! !


95er Please!   you are, you are simply incapable of seeing the outright hypocrisy and dishonesty of your messiah.